Thermoset plastics are favored for making many kinds of fiber-reinforced articles because of their ease of manufacture. Uncured thermosets are often low viscosity liquids at room temperature and easily wet a fabric of fibers. Once they have migrated through the fabric and surrounded its fibers, a curing stage (sometimes called a hardening stage) commences to polymerize the thermoset into a polymer matrix. Often, this wetting and curing takes place in a mold that defines the shape of the fiber-reinforced article.
The uncured thermoset resins used to make the composite are generally inexpensive, but often off-gas irritating and sometimes dangerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The outgassing of VOCs are of particular concern during curing, when the exothermic nature of many thermoset polymerization reactions raise the temperature of the composite and drive more VOCs into the gas phase. In many instances, it is necessary to cure large thermoset articles in facilities equipped with robust ventilation and air scrubbing equipment, increasing the overall production costs.
Thermoset articles are also difficult to repair or recycle. Hardened thermoset binders often have a high degree of crosslinking, making them prone to fractures and breaks. Because thermosets normally will not soften or melt under heat, they have to be replaced instead of repaired by welding. Compounding difficulties, the unrepairable thermoset part normally cannot be recycled into new articles, but must instead be landfilled at significant cost and adverse impact on the environment. The problems are particularly acute when large thermoset parts, such as automotive panels and wind turbine blades, need to be replaced.
Because of these and other difficulties, thermoplastic resin systems are being developed for fiber-reinforced articles that were once exclusively made using thermosets. Thermoplastics typically have higher fracture toughness and chemical resistance than thermosets. They also soften and melt at raised temperatures, allowing operators to heal cracks and weld together pieces instead of having to replace a damaged part. Perhaps most significantly, discarded thermoplastic parts can be broken down and recycled into new articles, reducing landfill costs and stress on the environment.
Unfortunately, many thermoplastics also have production challenges, including high flow viscosities that cause difficulties loading and wetting the thermoplastic resin into the fibers. In some instances the melted thermoplastic is raised to high temperature, pulled into the fibers under high pressure, and if necessary under high vacuum, to increase the infiltration rate. At a minimum, these techniques increase the complexity and cost of producing the fiber-reinforced article and often result in a thermoplastic matrix that is poorly bonded to the reinforcing fibers. Thus, there is a need to develop new thermoplastic resin formulations and new ways to combine thermoplastic resins with reinforcing fibers. These and other issues are addressed in the present application.